Palmer Mansion
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| Palmer Mansion | |
 The front façade of the Palmer Mansion on Lake Shore Drive. |
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| Building information | |
|---|---|
| Town | Chicago, Illinois |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | Coordinates: |
| Architect | Henry Ives Cobb and Charles Frost[1] |
| Client | Potter Palmer |
| Engineer | John Newquist |
| Construction start date | 1882 |
| Completion date | 1885 |
| Date demolished | 1951 |
| Cost | at least $1,000,000[2] |
| Style | Early Romanesque, Norman Gothic[3] |
| Size | 4,480 square feet (416.2 m²) |
The Palmer Mansion, once the largest private residence in Chicago, Illinois,[4] was constructed from 1882-1885 at № 1350 Lake Shore Drive, facing Lake Michigan, by architects Henry Ives Cobb and Charles Frost. It was built for Potter Palmer, a prominent Chicago businessman who was responsible for much of the development of State Street, and his wife Bertha Palmer. The construction of the Palmer Mansion on Lake Shore Drive established the "Gold Coast" neighborhood,[2][4] still one of the most affluent neighborhoods in the city.
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[edit] History
[edit] Construction
At the time of his mansion's construction, Potter Palmer was already responsible for much of the development of State Street. After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the buildings on State Street were destroyed, and Palmer was yet again responsible for its redevelopment.[5] Construction on the mansion began in 1882, and its exterior work was completed in 1883. However, interior decoration would continue for another two years before the building was entirely complete.
For the mansion's architects, Palmer choose Henry Ives Cobb and Charles Frost. He choose John Newquist, who had already worked with Palmer on numerous other constructions, as the contractor and stair constructer.[5] After completion, the building contained an area of over 4,480 square feet (416.2 m²).[5]
The Palmer Mansion was used for many social gatherings, including U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant's visit to the city, and receptions during the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition.[1] The Palmers also received many other guests, including: two other U.S. Presidents, William McKinley and James A. Garfield; the Duke and Duchess of Veragua; the Prince of Wales, later to become King Edward VII; as well as the Spanish princess Infanta Eulalia.[6]
[edit] Later ownership and demolition
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When Potter Palmer died in the mansion in 1902, he left his wife with a fortune of $8,000,000.[7] After his death, Bertha Palmer continued to reside in the house until she died at her winter residence in Sarasota, Florida in 1918. She bequeathed an estate of $15,000,000 to her son Potter Palmer, Jr., who sold the property in 1930 to the industrialist Vincent Hugo Bendix, who had invented the automobile starter, for $3,000,000.[7] Bendix renamed the property "The Bendix Galleries," after adding paintings by Rembrandt and Howard Chandler Christy to Bertha Palmer's former picture gallery.[7] While residing within the mansion, he modernized the elevator, and installed a barber's chair for his own use.
After living on the property for about five years, Vincent Bendix announced that the mansion would be razed to allow construction of the world's largest hotel on the site, costing approximately $25,000,000.[8] The project was never put into action, and the property was sold in 1935[8] for $2,000,000, the amount of the building's mortgage.[7] The mansion was later demolished in 1951,[9] to be replaced by two 22 story apartment buildings housing 740 families.[2]
The mansion's painting gallery, including works by French painters Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Edgar Degas, were transferred to the Art Institute of Chicago,[10] and the furniture was sold.[1]
[edit] Architecture
The Palmer Mansion was designed by architects Henry Ives Cobb (from Marshall and Fox) and Charles Frost. The architects referred to its architectural style as Early Romanesque or Norman Gothic.[1] Alternatively, the mansion was supposedly based on a German castle.[11]
The mansion featured a three-story Italianate central hall under a glass dome.[7] Other rooms were finished in a variety of historic styles: a Louis XVI salon, an Indian room, an Ottoman parlor, a Renaissance library, a Spanish music room, an English dining room that could seat fifty, and a Moorish room, the rugs of which were saturated with perfumes.[4][7] A collection of paintings, collected by Bertha Palmer adorned the mansion's grand ballroom, 75-foot (22.9 m) long. The room's murals in the frieze above them were by Gabriel Ferrier.
The mansion's exterior included many turrets and minarets, and on the interior, a spiral staircase that rose, unsupported,[5] 80 feet (24.4 m) into a tower.[4] Two elevators served the building. The doors had no outside locks and no knobs; the only way to get in was to be admitted from the inside.[4]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d David Garrard Lowe (2000). Lost Chicago. New York: Watson-Gutpill Publications, pp. 36-38. ISBN 0-8020-8390-0.
- ^ a b c Grossman, Ron. "Chicago's Seven Lost Wonders", Chicago Tribune, August 29, 2005. Retrieved on 2007-09-30.
- ^ The mansion's architects, Henry Ives Cobb and Charles Frost, referred to the architectural style the building was completed in as either early Romanesque or Norman Gothic. Lowe p. 36
- ^ a b c d e People & Events: Bertha Honoré Palmer (1849-1908). American Experience. Public Broadcasting Service. Retrieved on 2007-09-30.
- ^ a b c d Building Projects Of John Newquist. newquist.com. Retrieved on 2007-09-30.
- ^ "The Castle", TIME, February 13, 1950. Retrieved on 2007-09-30.
- ^ a b c d e f "History of a Home", TIME, July 17, 1933. Retrieved on 2007-09-30.
- ^ a b Bendix Helicopter, Inc. 1947. Scripophily. Yahoo!. Retrieved on 2007-09-30.
- ^ Palmers Castle. Dupont Castle. Retrieved on 2007-09-30.
- ^ Potter Palmer Collection. Art Institute of Chicago. Retrieved on 2007-09-30.
- ^ "MRS. PALMER COMING HERE.; Chicago Society Leader to Live In New York, It Is Said." (PDF), The New York Times, September 10, 1912. Retrieved on 2007-09-30.
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